A Change of Past
by 177624601
Summary: Takes place after The Ultimate Enemy. AU. We all know Danny Fenton died when Dark Danny was created. But what if him and Vlad had escaped Dan's wrath in the nick of time? Please R & R.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own no one (so far).

"Do you know why we're here?" Mr. Lancer asked as I sat with him, my family, and friends at a table at the Nasty Burger (how does a business with such a name as "Nasty Burger" attract customers anyway?), having been rebuilt since my fight with Box Lunch, the daughter of the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady (eew!).

"Because I cheated on the C.A.T. test." I said, resigned.

"Too right, and this is where people who fail the C.A.T. test go, whether they do poorly like Irving "Third Degree" Burns, or if they cheat, such as you."

As I stared down at the plastic table, a ribbon of thin blue steam came out of my mouth. "Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Very well, Mr. Fenton, I'll escort you in case you try any funny business. Fortunately for you, Daniel, I'm feeling lenient. I will pull some strings and see if I can't get the Amity Park school system to assign you a different test: different questions, different answers, same level of importance."

"Do you have any change?" I asked, holding out my hand as we reached the pay toilet. Slipping the dime into the slot and closing the door behind me as Mr. Lancer waited outside the door to the windowless room, I went ghost.

Following my sense to the walk-in freezer, I heard a voice behind me yell out "Beware!"

"Oh, no, not you ag-" I was cut off as a cocoon of boxes formed around me.

"It looks like you've been 'boxed' in!"

Using my ghost shield, I burst out of the corrugated chrysalis. "Actually, it's more like I'm card-bored." I said as I fired an ecto-laser at him from the tip, sucking him into the Fenton thermos before returning to the restroom. 1

"Hey, dipstick, 'Remember' me?" Asked a rock star ghost with blue flame for hair as I passed through the kitchen. All of a sudden, a blast hit me right in the chest, sending me into the wall, knocking over the condiment vat. "Can't get up? Here, let me 'Help!' you." Before she could attack me again, I snatched her guitar and flew off with it.

"Hey, that's mine, give it back!" she yelled as she flew after me.

"Why, can't you get no satisfaction?" I said, nailing her in the head with the instrument before her and the guitar met the same fate as the Box Ghost. Flying back to the Nasty Burger, I was only a couple of blocks away when it happened.

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A/N: Sorry the chapter was so short. The next one will belonger.


	2. Chapter 2

I watched in horror as the Nasty Burger erupted in an orange fireball. I felt the hellish winds whip past my face as I was blown back by the shock wave, the heat almost unbearable. The air was so hot and dry, it made my eyes water. However, that was not the last time they'd feel tears that day.

As I made my way back to the burning wreckage, I called out their names. I made my way over to where we had been sitting when I found five charred skeletons stripped of their flesh, blackened by the heat lying six feet away. It was then that I realized what had happened: when Ember attacked me, the vat fell onto the stove. _Damn!_ I thought. _Why? Why didn't I pick the vat up then? Why did they have to pay for my stupidity?_

Later that week was their funeral. As expected, I gave the eulogy, saving Sam's for last. As I read hers, my throat swollen with emotion, I scanned the crowd through my tear-fogged vision, my eyes falling on someone I'd never expected to see there.

"Hello, Vlad." I said as he approached

"Daniel, if there's anything you need, a place to stay, someone to talk with, don't hesitate to ask." As I looked into his eyes, the usual coldness had gone, replaced by authentic emotion, even though I wasn't ready to admit it at the time. I, as the sole surviving Fenton, was declared executor of their estate. I hadn't imagined being out on my own to be so painful. I had always looked forward to having my own home, but not at the expense of anyone's life. It had only been a few days, and already I missed Jazz's nosiness, my mom's vice-like hugs, and my dad's incessant ramblings about ghosts. I even started missing every invention threatening to tear me apart molecule by molecule.

Soon, my depression turned to self-loathing. My mind was always berating myself. "If you hadn't decided to cheat…You shouldn't have left the vat where it was…" Soon, fighting ghosts wasn't enough, so I started actually hunting them. No, I didn't, _Phantom_ did. I wanted out of the pain and misery, to lead a ghost-free lifestyle, so I decided to turn to the only other halfa I knew.

Remembering what he'd told me at their funeral, I swallowed my pride and contacted him. I agreed to move in with him as long as he honored the casualties I'd caused. He went above and beyond my conditions, erecting a statue of my family and friends that said "Gone, but not forgotten." and another, separate statue of Mr. Lancer that said "Gone."

He also helped me draw up the deed to the house. Not wanting to dishonor my parents, I signed the house over to the only other person I deemed worthy of it, Damon Grey, father of ghost huntress Valerie Grey; under the stipulation that he keep the sign up over the door. I figured that Valerie needed the ghost fighting equipment more than I did. Finally, Vlad and I went ghost and flew off through the Ghost Zone towards Wisconsin.

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A/N: I know I said this chapter would be longer. The next chapter will be the start of a better life for Danny Fenton. Danny _Phantom_, however…


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Don't think of Vlad as OOC, think of him as showing a new side.

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"Daniel," Vlad said as soon as his lab appeared before us, "This your home now, and as such you are granted unrestricted access to every room in this house. Come, your personal effects will be arriving by airmail soon."

"Why didn't we just take them with us through the Ghost Zone?" I asked as we reached the staircase that connected the lab to the entrance corridor.

"Because that would have taken far too long. I want to get you acclimated to your surroundings as quickly and as comfortably as possible."

We received my things a few minutes later. As I looked at the Masters Manor, Vlad places a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. I can't believe I'm living in the same house as my archenemy. I should give him a chance. Maybe it won't be so bad.

As we sat in the living room watching TV that night, my mind keept going over all the times him and I've met. "Hey, Vlad?" I ask as I stir my hot cocoa absent-mindedly.

"Hm?"

"Of all the women out there, why did you obsess over mom so much? Why not try finding a girl?"

"Daniel, there was twenty years between the lab accident in Wisconsin and the class reunion. Don't you think I tried? Oh, sure, I went out a few times, but they never lasted. The girls only wanted me for my money. Your mother was the only one who ever loved me for me. However, she loved her father for who he was just that much more.

Listen, Daniel, I don't mean to insult your father. He was a good man, and I realize that now. I was just jealous of him. Oh, sure, he was a bit of an oaf, and he may not have been the brightest bulb in the box (no offense), but his heart was always in the right place. Besides, who hasn't tripped over a root or broken something in his life? Can you ever forgive me?"

"Well, we will be living together from now on, so I suppose I'd better. Speaking of me moving in, why _did_ you invite me to stay with you, anyway?"

"I don't know, my dear boy." Vlad replied, watching his reflection in his glass of brandy. "I suppose I just want someone to talk to. After all, I'm not a young man anynmore, and it's nice to have some company in this big, empty old building."

"What about your staff? Can't they keep you company?" Or a _cat_?"

"Because the staff's a bunch of yes-men, and I will not get a cat."

"Why not, anyway?"

"Because I'm allergic."

"Besides, where would all my billions and ghost-hunting equipment go when I die? You heard right, Daniel. As soon as we get in touch with my lawyer tomorrow, everything here will be your when I pass on."

I nearly choked on my hot chocolate. "You're going to leave everything to me?"

"If you're willing to become my protégé."

"What's the catch?"

"No catch. With your father gone and you living here, I have everything I could ever need. Listen, Daniel, it's getting late. I'll show you to your room." He led me up the main staircase into a guest room right across from his, where we bade each other goodnight. All my effects set up, I changed into my pajamas and went to bed.

I was back in Amity Park, flying back to the Nasty Burger. "Mom! Dad! Guys? NOOOOO!" The explosion turned into a thunderclap as I awoke in a cold sweat, the rain pounding against the window. It was around midnight as the mist that my breath created turned an icy blue color. Against my own better judgment, I go ghost, allowing the intoxicating feeling of release from human inhibitions as the cold of the rings passes over me, freeing me from my weak humanity, the Dr. Jekyll to my Mr. Hyde. I am no longer the whelp known as Danny Fenton, but the powerful and mighty Danny Phantom!

As I peered down the hall, I saw that foolish Box Ghost, one of the cardboard boxes used to transport my things glowing in his right hand. "Oh, Box Ghost?" I ask, speaking in a slow and sly whisper. "Beware." I let loose a ball of ectoplasm the size of my head, destroying the box ghost's hand as it contacted with the box, creating a glorious explosion. I grinned as I see the fool, holding his bloody stump of an arm. I was about to raise an arm to finish him when, all of a sudden, my human side took over, forcing me to unclip the Fenton thermos. As I peer into the pathetic face of the sad creature before me, I open the thermos. I can't bear to look into the box ghost's eyes, brimming with fear, as I suck him in.

Shaking with adrenaline, an unexplainable fear, and shock at the fact that I'd actually mutilated a fellow ghost, I screwed the cap back on as Vlad ran out of his bedroom. "Daniel, my dear boy," he asked, "what happened?"

"Nothing." I lied as I turned back into Danny Fenton. Afraid of what I'd do the next time I'd turn ghost, I asked, "Vlad, I'm scared. I don't want to be half-ghost anymore. I can't deal with the emotions that come with it."

"That, my dear boy, can be arranged."

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A/N:Dun-dun-duuuuuuuun! BTW, "Urban Jungle" premiers in a couple of hours!


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you sure you're ready, Daniel?" Vlad asked after releasing the Box Ghost back into the Ghost Zone.

"Positive." I said, laying down on the strange metal bed in the lab and closing the steel door over me. Vlad placed a gas mask over my mouth and nose.

"Good. Now I want you to count backwards from one hundred." I barely made it to ninety-five when I start to get drowsy as Vlad started to put on the Ghost Gauntlets. I don't know how much longer it was before I woke up, but I could tell it wasn't long.

"Vlad?" I asked, a little bleary-eyed as he tried to unlock the doors that held me down.

"Something's gone horribly wrong, Daniel. Before I could contain him, he broke loose."

"Who?" My question didn't need answering, for as soon as the word escaped my mouth, I saw a familiar figure approach Vlad: Danny Phantom. Not the Danny Phantom that I separated from for that "ghost-free weekend o'fun" I'd promised my friends, but a mentally twisted creature that was the illegitimate child of rage, hatred, passion, strength, fury, will, and power. Just as Vlad undid the last of the locks, Danny grabbed him with the Ghost Gauntlets, shredding human half from ghost half as I sat, huddled in a corner, watching, paralyzed with fear.

Horrified, I watch as Danny discarded Vlad's body, fusing himself with Vlad Plasmius. A pain-wracked scream filled the air as Danny's skin turned from white to a sickly grey color. Too busy watching the petrifying sight before, me, I almost screamed as a hand grabbed my wrist. "Danny, come with me." Vlad Masters told me. As he rummaged through a laboratory closet, he pulled out two jetpacks. "I always knew these would come in handy someday." Strapping one on himself after putting me in one, we flew off into the Ghost Zone.


	5. Chapter 5

Ten years had passed since Vlad and I escaped through the Ghost Zone, the only gateway between it and the human world, aside from the one in Amity Park, having been destroyed when Masters Manor was blown up. However, that didn't matter. _He_ was able to cross from one place to the other as _he_ wished. _He_ could go anywhere _he_ wanted. Anywhere except one place.

Amity Park had seen more than a decade's worth of progress. It was a beacon of light in an otherwise dystopian wasteland. A wasteland brought on by _his_ rampage. I remember the day Vlad and I finally left the Ghost Zone like it was yesterday.

Everyday there was news of casualties by the thousands, each one of them a victim of the same attacker. Nothing could have stopped him, not even the Guys in White. Even the best weapons, those made by FentonWorks, a division of Axion Labs; couldn't stop him, only knock him back. Finally, the greatest technical minds of our times, headed by Axion Labs, came up with a way of not so much defeating him as it was keeping him at bay.

"Danny, you check the generator, Vlad, the backup generator. I'll take a look at the energy levels." Val said as we approached Tower 9 on our hoverboards while we made our rounds. In order to make a living, Vlad and I had gone to work for Axion Labs, Ghost Division. Thanks to our knowledge of anti-ghost technology, we quickly rose through the ranks, even though I had personally sworn never to get into a duel against a ghost. That was Valerie's job, anyway. We landed, leaning our boards against the wall.

"Generator all clear, boss!" I yelled to Val, who was standing a fair distance away.

"Backup's fine, too, Valerie!" Vlad announced, equal distance between Val and I.

Valerie announced into her comlink, "Ghost Shield Tower 9 100 operational."

Damon Grey, who had lost an arm thanks to a near-fatal encounter with _him_, came over Valerie's wrist communicator. "Great, sweetie. Check the last tower and get ba-"

"Daddy? Daddy?"

A deep, bone-chilling voice came from her comlink. "Hello, Valerie." _He _announced.

"You again? I don't care how powerful you are, ghost, you can't break through the shield!"

"Until today." With that, a deafening roar ripped through the air. All of a sudden, I was back in 2004 at the Nasty Burger's destruction. In horror, I watched as the windmill-shaped structure detonated. The floor beneath us shaking as in an earthquake, I noticed Vlad get hit on the head by one of the smaller pieces of debris, which knocked him out, sending him toppling over the railing. Jumping off the ledge, I summoned my board as tower after tower burst.

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A/N: Does Danny grab Vlad in time? Or does Vlad, who took Danny under his wing and rescued Danny from the destruction of Masters Manor, fall to his death? I hope you're enjoying the story so far


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